News Brief 7 November

Submitted by claudiaobrien on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 03:13

By Claudia O’Brian

In the news this week

Big news this week was the ruling that overtime should count in holiday pay. An Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruling on the Bear Scotland vs Fulton case found that overtime pay should have been factored in to the three road maintenance employees’ holiday pay. Two other cases – Amec vs Law and Hertel vs Wood – were also included in the ruling. The employees won their original claims and the tribunal has now rejected the companies’ appeals. The cases revolve around the interpretation of the EU Working Time Directive, specifically the Working Time Regulations implemented in 1998.

Similar to this case is that of Lock v British Gas , where the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that holiday pay should reflect the commission a worker would normally earn. The case was due to go to the Leicester Employment Tribunal in October, but has now been postponed to February.

The Conservative assault on Human Rights

Article 8: Right to respect for private and family life (The implications on unfair dismissal)

By Michael Ford QC, Old Square Chambers

The second in a series of IER articles on the implications of the withdrawal from the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) has been released this week. Withdrawal from the ECHR will have profound and far reaching consequence for employment rights, and we will be releasing in depth analysis by specialists in the areas concerned. In this week’s instalment, Michael Ford QC covers
Article 8: Right to respect for private and family life (The implications on unfair dismissal), which protects the right to private life, and “has the potential to protect against practices which interfere with working life in the broad sense”.

New on the Coalition Timeline

Click here to see the Coalition Timeline

Equality

Downward mobility on the rise (6/11/2014)

Men twice as likely to earn over £50,000 a year as women (4/11/2014)

Economy

Osbourne uses tax statements as political propaganda (3/11/2014)

Pay and Benefits

Coalition tries to limit impact of holiday pay ruling (5/11/2014)

220,000 care workers in England paid below minimum wage (4/11/2014)

PAC condemns Work Programme

The Public Accounts Committee has today (6 November) published its report on the work programme. The PAC denounced the programme’s failure to achieve its aims, finding that the companies running the Government scheme to cut joblessness have reneged on promises to focus on hard to help claimants – spending less than half what they had originally promised to. The programme, which was launched three years ago, has resulted in disabled people being “parked” rather than helped back into work, according to the committee.

Living wage increased to £7.85 an hour

The living wage has gone up by 20p, to £7.85 an hour, and £9.15 in London. The new rate for the voluntary wage threshold was announced at the start of Living Wage Week, along with the news that 22% of workers still do not earn the living wage – calculated as the minimum income required for a basic standard of living. The living wage now stands at 21% higher than the National Minimum Wage of £6.50 an hour. 35,000 UK workers will be affected by the change, with over 1000 employers now accredited by the scheme, which is pushed by the Living Wage Foundation.

Equal Pay Day 2014

Today (November 4) is equal pay day – effectively the last day of the year that women are paid for their work, thanks to the gender pay gap. Last week the IER reported that the World Economic forum had revealed that the UK gender gap was widening – The UK fell out of the top 20 most gender-equal countries in the world for the first time this year, dropping to a ranking of 26 in the 2014 Global Gender Gap Report. This year’s equal pay day comes three days earlier than 2013’s. The frightening reality is that economic gender inequality is getting worse not better – and has being doing so since the coalition took power in 2010. Women earn on average £2.83 per hour less than men – and £5000 a year less than their male counterparts for doing similar jobs.

Help us to celebrate 25 years of the Institute

Donations are coming in daily to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Institute. If you make a donation, don’t forget to send us a supporting statement about why you support the institute. So, whether you’re an individual or a branch, whether it’s £25 or £250 join in and you’ll be included in out monthly draw to win a free place at an IER event!
Congratulations to this week’s winner: John Halligan, TUC

Publications

Trade Unions and Economic Inequality

By Dr Lydia Hayes and Professor Tonia Novitz

What is the point of trade unions? What do they deliver? Are trade unions relevant in 21st century modern society? These and many other questions are answered by the authors of this timely and well presented report. Order your copy here

Re-regulating Zero Hours Contracts

By Zoe Adams and Simon Deakin

ZHCs are highly profitable for employers, but lead to insecurity of income and low pay for workers. The authors point to rigidities in employment law and the operation of the tax-benefit system as being responsible for the rise in zero hours contracting. Order your copy here

Labour migration in hard times: Reforming labour market regulation?

Edited by Bernard Ryan

A collection of papers by the UK’s leading experts on labour migration on the exploitation of migrant workers and the need for labour law reform.

TUPE 2014

By Richard Arthur

A collection of papers by the UK’s leading experts on labour migration on the exploitation of migrant workers and the need for labour law reform.

Forthcoming Events

Equality and Discrimination: What Next For Equal Rights? , Unite the Union, London

Wednesday 19 November 2014
Four years after the introduction of the Equality Act and where are we now? Leading equality experts from the law, trade unions and academia will come together to critically assess the latest case law, precedents and evidence and anticipate where they will lead us in terms of ensuring fairness at work for all.

TUPE Update: the new Regulations, Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool

Wednesday 3rd December 2014
The government published new TUPE Regulations in November 2013, revealing service provision rules will not be repealed, but several changes will be made that could hinder trade union activity. There are many uncertainties about the new regulations and the conference will aim to provide answers to many questions plus any additional questions from delegates on the day.

The Institute of Employment Rights